Besides the news, it has become pretty obvious from every single person I've talked to that a Swine Flu has been given from pigs to humans, and while no U.S. citizens have died from it yet, there have been enough Mexican cases to instill a serious fear in everyone, causing people to go so far as to wear surgical masks around daily.
What interested me the most was how something like a possible epidemic can show strange similarities to war. For example, according to the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones transportation average has tumbled 5%. Both diseases and war can instill the fear of travel, the fear of being unsafe no matter where you go. People are experiencing this now, afraid to catch the flu from anyone, and those in the Vietnam war were afraid to go anywhere and become an innocent and unwilling victim.
Another interesting thing is that the Mexican Peso dropped 4% verses the dollar, which represents inflation, something that happens very often during wartime. In fact, during WWII money became so worthless that people would burn it for fuel, and it cost less than buying wood.
Obviously war and disease are not the same, however, some similarities are undeniable. They are both fighting against an enemy that needs to be stopped using the right strategy. Hopefully the U.S. will be able to contain the Swine flu, before it spreads and places seige on the rest of the country.
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